(If you're not in the pregnancy stage of life, I still believe you'll find this a very interesting article. Please share it with someone who can benefit, too. Thanks!)

​Pregnancy is a very exciting and important time in a woman’s life. Mothers and fathers make strong commitments to provide the best they can for their child. They hope and pray for a healthy baby. Much can be done in regards to nutrition to help ensure the child has a wonderful start to life, and that both the mother and baby are nourished well throughout the pregnancy. A pregnancy is typically known to last 40 weeks and has three trimesters. Some holistic health professionals, however, consider two additional time periods as equally important in regards to nutrition of both the parents and the baby. These include the time period pre-conception and also the post-pregnancy period during breastfeeding of the infant.

​Preparation for Conception

Ideally, nourishment starts with both parents before pregnancy. This is because the health of the egg and sperm both suffer the effects of poor nutrition, exposure to toxins, viruses, medications, or drugs. The stronger and healthier the parents are at the time of conception, the healthier the baby will likely be, both in the womb and beyond. Most of the crucial development of the baby is in the first eight weeks after conception, when there is a rapid rate of growth. If the mother is lacking in any vitamin or mineral nutrients, or is toxic, that can have a large influence on the child’s development. Preparing the body for pregnancy may take four to six months for a relatively healthy person. Someone with more significant health issues may need a year to work on strengthening their vital nutritional reserves before considering pregnancy. Nutritional status also will have an effect on the man’s sperm count.

Potential parents should get a check-up and take care of any nutritional imbalances before conceiving. They can raise their immunity through eating a healthy, nutrient-rich diet that is dense in whole foods. The nutrients that are especially helpful during preconception and for fertility include essential fatty acids, folate for the woman, and zinc for the man.

It is important to engage in lifestyle practices that foster physical well-being. Minimizing exposure to toxins is vital. Exercise is also important both before and during pregnancy. It helps to circulate nutrients throughout the body, clear out waste, and build muscle tone of the uterus and the rest of the body.

A healthy state of mind is also key to conception and a healthy pregnancy. Relaxation helps detoxification. Excess stressors hinder health and create imbalances in the woman’s sex hormones, which can influence fertility.

These healthy pre-pregnancy practices should be continued during the pregnancy and beyond. I will expand further on the specifics of the nutrient-rich diet, helpful herbs, weight gain and calories needed, avoidance of toxins, and healthy lifestyle behaviors in the sections below.

​​A Nutrient-Rich Diet for the Whole Family

​If a woman is already pregnant, it is never too late to start a nutrient-rich, whole-food eating plan. It is the only type of diet that will fully nourish both the mother and baby during pregnancy and provide the best conditions for the baby to thrive. The father will also benefit greatly from eating a healthy diet. It's vital for optimum health to choose high-quality, natural, whole foods. This includes a bountiful supply of fiber-rich vegetables and fruits (preferably local and organic), fresh spices and herbs, sprouted nuts, seeds and legumes, starchy tubers, healthy fats, eggs, grass-fed meats, wild-caught fish, free range pork and poultry, fermented foods, and organ meats. These whole foods contain vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, and enzymes that are necessary for optimum nutrition. Adequate hydration from clean sources of water is also of high importance.

Packaged, processed, and refined foods are avoided because they deplete nutrition. Toxins in foods are avoided, such as chemical additives, preservatives, pesticides, artificial sweeteners, flavorings and colorings, irradiated foods, and GMO’s. Refined sugars, glutinous grains, pasteurized dairy, trans fats, and industrial vegetable oils should be avoided because they do not support health nor a growing baby.

​The Importance of Nutrition during Pregnancy

​The growing baby gets first access to the nutrients from the food the mother consumes. The mother’s body gets the nutrients remaining. That is why it is vital that the mother eat a high quality diet, in order to nourish them both. The placenta, also inside the uterus, is the unborn baby’s life-support system. It transfers oxygen, energy-giving glucose, essential nutrients, infection-fighting antibodies, and other vital substances from the mother to the baby through the umbilical cord. (Many unhealthy substances can also get passed on to the baby.) Normal metabolic wastes from the baby such as carbon dioxide and urea pass back to the mother’s blood supply to be excreted. The mother’s and baby’s blood never actually make direct contact; they are separated by a thin barrier of cells called the chorionic membrane. Mother and baby often have different blood types and are two completely different persons.

As the baby grows in the womb, the mother’s body also grows and goes through many changes, which demands much greater nutritional needs. It must do a lot of extra work and establish a physical support system to carry the pregnancy. This includes growing of the baby and uterus, development of breasts and preparation for breast milk, the expansion of heart and lung outputs in order to supply blood flow to the placenta, and many other changes. Resting energy expenditure in expectant mothers increases because of the increased physical demands, and pregnant women are often more tired as a result. They should get plenty of rest and nap when possible.

​Herbs that are Helpful during Pregnancy

Black Haw is most useful in preventing miscarriage. For any woman who has had a history of miscarriage, Black Haw quiets the uterine muscles and eases the tensions throughout the uterus.

Burdock Root can be very delicious; it is an extremely nourishing herb and it has very high concentrations of vitamins, minerals, and trace minerals.

Chamomile flower is a very gentle flower for a pregnant woman. It's a very calming and relaxing and soothing herb. It helps to deal with day to day stresses. It is also slightly bitter, so it's a great herb for digestive disorders. If there's any kind of gas or bloating, it could be combined with ginger, and it would be a nice combination for morning sickness. Chamomile is high in calcium, so it's a marvelous tonic for the nervous system overall.

The leaves of Lady's Mantle is beneficial for toning the uterus.

Nettle leaf is a very excellent nourishing herb for a pregnant woman, especially if a woman starts to show fatigue and is excessively tired, because so much of her blood is going into the placenta, iron stores tend to go down, and anemia can be a problem for a pregnant woman. Nettle Leaf is very, very green and high in iron.

Red Raspberry Leaf is probably the most well known of herbs for pregnant women. The leaf helps to tone and to nourish the uterine muscles. When used both during and after pregnancy, it stimulates the flow of milk, and helps restore a woman's system after childbirth. It's an all purpose, pleasant tasting herb.

Squaw Vine is another herb that could be combined with Raspberry Leaf. It's a very nice pregnancy tonic. It also tones and nourishes the uterus.

​​Calories Needed and Weight Gain during Pregnancy

It takes an energy demand of about 75,000 calories to make a baby over a nine month period. During the first trimester of pregnancy, energy demands do not increase very much. During the second trimester, approximately 300-350 additional calories are needed per day, to total around 2400 for the average woman. In the third trimester, 400-450 more calories are needed, which is about 2600 per day. Young or underweight women may need to increase their caloric energy intake even more.

Adequate weight gain during pregnancy is an important marker of the growth of the baby and its development, and health care practitioners monitor it carefully. It is recommended that normal-weight women gain 25-35 pounds in total over the course of the pregnancy. Underweight women should gain 28-40 pounds, overweight women should gain 15-25 pounds, and obese women should gain 11-20 pounds.

Paula Bartholomy, of Hawthorn University, believes that the amount of food consumed is not so crucial, provided the woman is eating a nutrient-rich, whole food diet. It certainly should be in adequate amounts, but weight gain is self-regulating. Because junk food will cause anyone to gain weight, what foods the expectant mother eats is much more important than specific weight gain numbers. Evidence shows that babies born to women who gain the most weight during pregnancy were at least risk of developing problems before birth and afterwards. Bartholomy warns that restrictive dieting will have negative health consequences for the mother and baby. Pregnancy is not the time to restrict calories, especially from nutritious foods. The fast growing growing baby needs nutrients, and more and more as the pregnancy progresses. For example, protein is vital for growth of the baby, and if the mother restricts it, especially in the third trimester, the mother’s body will break down its own lean body tissues to supply the protein the baby requires.

​Nutrition during Breastfeeding

Experts agree that human breast milk is the best possible food for babies. It has the perfect nutrient composition to exactly match the needs of a growing infant. It’s even the perfect temperature. Breastfeeding is also extremely beneficial for new mothers. It stimulates the uterus to contract to the pre-pregnant size, helps in weight-loss, can delay onset of the menstrual cycle, and is a beautiful bonding experience between mother and child.

The nutritional and healthy lifestyle guidelines for a pregnant mother carry forward to when she is breastfeeding her infant. Just as when pregnant, nutrients go the the child first, then the mother. Milk production also requires lots of energy. Because women tend to produce more milk during the first six months after the baby’s birth, the calories required are greatest in that time period. Additional calories required are about 500-1000 more per day (than when nonpregnant). During the second six months of lactation, approximately 400 additional calories per day are required. This is all dependent on when solid foods are introduced.

The mother's vitamin and mineral requirements during breastfeeding are very similar to when pregnant, although some are greater (like vitamin A) and some are less (like folate). The need for vitamin C increases substantially, because a large amount of it is secreted in breast milk. Vitamin C needs are 85 mg per day during pregnancy, and 120 mg per day when breastfeeding. The needs for vitamins A, B and C, zinc and iodine all increase. A number of these are stress nutrients, which are necessary, especially because a lactating mother with a newborn infant is often sleep deprived. Fluid intake is very important and should be approximately 13 cups per day, including from both foods and beverages. More fluids consumed beyond what is required does not produce extra milk, but lack of fluids will decrease milk volume. Read on!

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